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Heat not ruled out as cause of woman’s death

Bartlesville police are not ruling the heat out as a factor in the death of a 30-year-old woman Thursday afternoon.

Shantelle Nicole Ishem was found lying on the ground outside a residence located in the 700 block of Rogers Avenue around 4:05 p.m., Bartlesville Police Department Sgt. David Hackler told the Examiner-Enterprise on Friday.

“Someone walking by saw a (person) lying on the ground and called 911,” Hackler said. “When officers arrived they found that she had expired.”

Hackler said Ishem’s body is currently at the State Medical Examiner’s office and that it could be weeks before authorities have an confirmed cause of death.

“We’re currently treating the matter as a death investigation,” Hackler said. “At this point, we’re not ruling out heat as a possible cause.”

On Wednesday, Ishem entered a guilty plea to charges of possession of controlled dangerous substance-misdemeanor in Washington County Court. According to court records, it was ordered that Ishem could be released that day and the state recommended a one-year suspended sentence, fines, supervised probation, follow-up treatment and random drug testing.